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Photographer Luca Arena's non-cliched yet beautiful portrait of Iceland

"Between the light that goes off and the beginning of the day, I have known places where the ships don’t break, there are no trains and no cars go, where a yellow traffic light means slow down and not accelerate."

Written By:
Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer.

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer.

These are the introductory words of Luca Arena's latest photography series, Á means river | Ísland, which explores a less cliched side to Iceland.

Over 13 days, he travelled nearly 3,000km to try and uncover hidden corners of the dramatic island, a place that usually makes us think of fire and ice. He explains: "I have tried to break the mirror and not depict Iceland as the land of rivers, volcanoes and endless glaciers, but photographing it in a completely unusual and aseptic manner, so that, for once, we can get away from the explosion of nature and live in colours, giving voice to the island's minority: man."

Discover more of Luca's work at www.luca-arena.it.

Blue slide on an industrial rooftop structure beneath dramatic cloudy sky with a street lamp
Illuminated greenhouse with yellow-lit interior and black frame structures against a twilight blue sky and dark evergreen trees
White geothermal bathhouse nestled in a verdant Icelandic valley beside a river, with bathers in the steaming water and dramatic green hills surrounding it
White and green bus parked on a gravel road surrounded by vast green Icelandic landscape under cloudy skies
Red corrugated metal garage with white overhead door, pink children's bike on left and blue children's bike on right, with residential buildings behind
Two white football goal posts sit on a bright green field beside still water under a dramatic cloudy sky, with distant hills on the horizon
Solitary red corrugated metal house nestled on a vast expanse of lush green Icelandic hillside beneath an overcast sky
Minimalist architectural composition with a dark green roof structure atop a pale pink box on a rust-coloured surface against a turquoise wall with geometric window shapes
Bright pink neon-lit corner of an empty room with wooden flooring and purple shadows cast across the floor
Red geodesic dome structure in a barren Icelandic landscape beneath green hills with a street light nearby
Person wearing a bright yellow waterproof jacket standing alone on a misty, barren Icelandic landscape
Yellow modernist building beside a basketball hoop on a wet concrete court with grassy slope and grey corrugated structures in the background
Small white wooden cabin with yellow-trimmed windows nestled among dense evergreen trees in rural Iceland, with a blue trampoline nearby on overgrown grass
Aerial view of a red corrugated-iron house with green lawn, white football goal and paved courtyard in rural Iceland
A grey tent surrounded by black chairs at a dining table in a lush green landscape, with yellow bunting strung overhead and a turquoise kayak nearby
A weathered basketball hoop stands alone in a vast green Icelandic valley with rocky mountains rising behind it and a small stream in the distance
A white campervan and bright yellow-green house with wooden fence stand isolated on vast green grassland beneath dramatic cloudy sky with distant mountains
A petrol station with yellow and white pump in a remote Icelandic landscape, backed by a distinctive cone-shaped green mountain
Modern white building with large windows reflected in bright blue geothermal pool, surrounded by dark lava rock formations under overcast sky
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